by Darren Mar-Elia | Sep 16, 2026 | General Stuff, Group Policy Management, Group Policy Preferences
Once you understand Group Policy storage and structure, the next step is to learn the distinction between Group Policy and Group Policy Preferences (GPP). At a high level, both mechanisms deliver configuration to Windows, but they operate very differently because of...
by Darren Mar-Elia | Aug 13, 2026 | General Stuff, Security-related
The title of this blog says it all. What happens to Group Policy processing when a client machine is off the network and can’t contact its domain controllers (DCs)? When trying to find the answer, you face even more follow-up questions: Does the applied policy...
by Darren Mar-Elia | Jul 20, 2026 | Event Logs, General Stuff, Group Policy, Group Policy Management, Security Policy
Years ago, if you wanted to configure Windows Event Logs for things like maximum log size or retention behavior, you typically did that in Security Settings. Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft added a new Administrative Template that added new Administrative Template...
by Darren Mar-Elia | May 4, 2026 | General Stuff
I still stumble across questions about Group Policy Loopback Processing on Reddit and other platforms. It confounds a lot of folks because what it does is a bit complex. In this blog, I am going to try to break it down so it is easy to digest. What is Loopback...
by Kevin Sullivan | Dec 11, 2025 | Cloud, General Stuff, Microsoft-Related
Microsoft recently announced plans to include Intune Suite capabilities in Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licenses. This is really big news that customers have been asking for and about since the Intune Suite was announced a few years ago. It is a statement that the company...
by Kevin Sullivan | Nov 18, 2025 | Active Directory, General Stuff
There is a reason why many Active Directory admins still use the GUI: it is simple and straightforward. On the other hand, scripts allow us to automate and scale AD tasks, which is also beneficial for admins. A classic example of this duality is working with dates...
